UFC 91 draws 14,272 for $4.8 million gate

Saturday’s “UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar” event, which took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, earned a $4.8 million gate according to UFC President Dana White.

White confirmed the numbers, which included a near-soldout crowd of 14,272, in a post-UFC 91 press conference.

UFC 91 marked the 11th event held by the organization at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Although White billed the evening’s main event as the “biggest fight in UFC history,” the amount was just the fourth-highest total in the organization’s 15 years of promoting MMA.

However, despite severe nationwide economic challenges, the $4.8 million collected is the third-largest amount ever recorded in Nevada. “UFC 66: Liddel vs. Ortiz II,” also held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and “UFC 79: Nemesis,” from the Mandalay Bay Events Center, previously bested the total ticket revenue from UFC 91.

The most recent UFC event held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena was “UFC 84: Ill Will.” That May card featured a main event of B.J. Penn vs Sean Sherk and drew a total attendance of 14,773, yet the gate was $1.1 million less than UFC 91’s.

Prior to Saturday’s event, the UFC’s most recent card was “UFC 90: Silva vs. Cote.” The October event marked the UFC’s first visit to Illinois, and the total attendance was 15,359, though the gate was almost $2 million less than Saturday’s total.

For more information about the event, check out the UFC 91 page in our Events section here on MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

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